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Gender issues in mountains

Women and men play key roles with respect to environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas. Women are often the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity and the main actors in terms of agriculture, animal husbandry and other small scale economic activities. In mountain communities, women are keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine.

However, women mountain dwellers are often invisible and their voices go unheard. They rarely participate in decisions affecting the management and use of local resources; they often lack basic rights, have little access to ownership and land tenure rights, education, health services and training. Since women and girls have less access to household resources, they are at a greater risk of hunger and malnutrition.

As men migrate to lowlands areas or abroad in search of better income, women are left to manage the farm and household and participate in small trade and income-earning activities. Yet lack of access to credit hampers efforts to improve or expand their farm activities and earn cash incomes.Inaccessibility shapes the lives of mountain communities. Further, the challenges men and women face in mountain regions is intensified by altitude, steep terrain and isolation.

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In March 2016, stakeholders from 35 countries established the Mountain Futures Initiative, as part of the inaugural Mountain Futures Conference in Kunming, China. The initiative seeks to foster local innovations for resilient livelihoods in mountain regions worldwide; it aims to identify, develop and scale up mountain-based solutions to global problems.

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The Rapporto Montagne Italia 2017 (2017 Italian Mountains Report) was presented on 30 January 2018 in the House of Commons in Rome. Now in its third edition, the report is produced annually by the Italian Mountain Foundation, which is made up by the National Organization of Mountain Municipalities,...

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This publication celebrates the work of the Mountain Partnership - the only United Nations alliance dedicated to improving the lives of mountain communities and their ecosystems - over 15 years. It profiles key players, charts the achievements at global, regional and national level, and showcases success stories around the world....

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The written statement contributed by Mountain Partnership members The Mountain Institute and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, together with the Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development and Commerce (UCFISHD&C), was approved by the United Nations Secretariat for contribution to the 56th session of the...

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On International Mountain Day (11 December) 2017, a Framework for Action to support concrete actions, put in place long-lasting processes, and establish policies to strengthen the resilience of mountain peoples and environments was launched at the fifth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership. The Framework will aim to ensure that sustainable...

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The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), jointly with the Ministry of Population and Environment of Nepal and with support from the European Union, is hosting an international conference titled “Resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya: Developing Solutions towards a Sustainable Future for Asia” on 3-6 December in Kathmandu,...